5.  The applicant was born in 1935 and lives in Siyazan. He is a farmer.
6.  Following a dispute over ownership rights to a plot of land between the applicant and the Sadan Municipality in the district formerly known as Davachi (“the Municipality”), criminal proceedings were instituted against the applicant.
7.  On 29 December 2004 the Davachi District Court convicted the applicant under Article 188 of the Criminal Code (violation of a lawful owner’s right to a plot of land, by means of unauthorised occupation, alteration or cultivation thereof) and sentenced him to a fine in the amount of one hundred conventional financial units (550,000 old Azerbaijani manats, equivalent to 110 new Azerbaijani manats (AZN), which according to the official exchange rates published by the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan amounted to approximately 84 euros (EUR) at the relevant time). The court found that the applicant had unlawfully occupied and cultivated a plot of land of 0.8 hectares owned by the Municipality. The Court based its findings on witness statements and information provided by the State Committee of Land and Cartography (“the SCLC”).
8.  On an unspecified date, the applicant appealed against the judgment of 29 December 2004, arguing that the plot of land in question was part of a larger parcel of land measuring 50 hectares belonging to his family farming business. On 18 March 2005 the Court of Appeal upheld the first-instance court’s judgment.
9.  The applicant lodged an appeal on points of law, alleging that the lower courts had erred in their assessment of the facts. On 9 August 2005 the Supreme Court, composed of a panel of three judges including judge N.H., quashed the judgment of the Court of Appeal of 18 March 2005 and remitted the case for a new examination to the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court noted, in particular, that the conviction was based on insufficient evidence.
10.  Taking into consideration the findings of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal sent a new request to the SCLC and the Municipality requesting detailed information about the exact location, measurements and ownership of the plot of land. The Municipality submitted that, according to the official records, the plot in question belonged to the Municipality and not the applicant. The SCLC conducted an on-site inspection of the plot of land and submitted to the court that the plot in question was part of the Municipality’s estate. On 12 July 2006 the Court of Appeal delivered a new judgment upholding the Davachi District Court’s judgment of 29 November 2004 convicting the applicant. The court held that the disputed plot of land which the applicant cultivated belonged to the Municipality and that the relevant law had been applied correctly.
11.  The applicant appealed. On 10 October 2006 the Supreme Court, composed of a panel of three judges including judge N.H., examined the applicant’s appeal. It found that the Court of Appeal had examined all the relevant and available evidence and had committed no breaches of substantive or procedural law. Accordingly, the Supreme Court dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the Court of Appeal’s judgment of 12 July 2006.